Our holdings include hundreds of glass and film negatives/transparencies that we've scanned ourselves; in addition, many other photos on this site were extracted from reference images (high-resolution tiffs) in the Library of Congress research archive. (To query the database click here.) They are adjusted, restored and reworked by your webmaster in accordance with his aesthetic sensibilities before being downsized and turned into the jpegs you see here. All of these images (including "derivative works") are protected by copyright laws of the United States and other jurisdictions and may not be sold, reproduced or otherwise used for commercial purposes without permission.

James Dawson: 1902

"James Dawson, arrested for Indecent Exposure. North Shields Police Station, 9th June 1902." Our first image from a photograph album of prisoners brought before the North Shields Police Court in England between 1902 and 1916, now in the collection of the Tyne & Wear Archives and Museums. View full size.

The fancy handwriting for such a utilitarian sign fascinates me. I guess that people who grew up learning to write with a pen you had to dip in wet ink are more likely to make those kinds of flourishes? Even when they're writing in chalk? Maybe?

Manalto may well be right. Perhaps Mr Dawson is not quite the dangerous pervert which he looks but rather an ordinary man seething with resentment at his arrest.

Many years ago, when I was 16 or 17, a school friend of mine was arrested for indecent exposure, just like Dawson.

It all happened late one night when my friend was caught short whilst walking home. He turned into a quiet street and, as he was furtively relieving himself against a wall, he felt a hand on his shoulder and a voice said "Expensive piss, son".

It was a pair of policemen who were probably just looking for an excuse to return to the warm police station with a prisoner.

Mr. Dawson was on his way home from the pub, lamenting the particular lack of conveniences in North Shields. "I'll just duck behind this shrub, nobody will notice" he thought. A bit cloudy from several ales, he failed to notice the town constable standing on the verandah beside him.

The Shields Daily Gazette (dated 9 June 1902) provides a little more information:

"Today at North Shields, before Mr. J. Walton and Mr. T. Byers, James Dawson (38), a shoe maker, was charged on a warrant with behaving in an indecent manner in Albion Road on the 15th inst. Mr. G. R. Duncan prosecuted, and Mr. A. Whitehorn defended. Accused, who is a married man, was sent to prison for one month in the second division."

The 1911 census of England lists a likely candidate - James Dawson (46), a boot maker born in Leeds and living at 46 Sidney Street, North Shields, married to Mary Ann (45), with five children living at home - George Albert (25), James (18), Eva (14), Thomas (16) and Willie (4). An additional child, Amelia (12) is listed in the 1901 census; the family is living in Chirton, Northumberland, and James is listed as a boot repairer and shop keeper. In 1881, they are in Leeds (10 Prince of Wales Yard, Marsh Lane), with James listed as a boot riveter; also living with them is James's mother, Margaret (58).

Shorpy.com | History in HD is a vintage photo blog featuring thousands of high-definition images from the 1850s to 1950s. The site is named after Shorpy Higginbotham, a teenage coal miner who lived 100 years ago.